PIMS BoG chairman promises end to stalemate

Islamabad : The government will go to any length to appease the employees of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), provided the essence of the Medical Teaching Institutions (MTI) Ordinance is not compromised. The tension will be diffused shortly; the coming week will bring great news for the progress of PIMS as an institution.

The Chairman of the Board of Governors (BoG) of PIMS Dr. Humayun Mohmand expressed these views while talking to ‘The News’ here on Tuesday—a day when PIMS protesters downscaled their full-fledged strike to a partial strike (11 a.m.-2 p.m.) as a goodwill gesture amidst Dr. Humayun’s assurance that the government has, in principle, accepted their demands, and will make a written agreement to this effect within the next couple of days. The Grand Health Alliance (GHA) has, however, threatened resumption of a full-fledged protest on February 8, if their demands are not met by Sunday night.

Both Dr. Humayun and the newly appointed Hospital Director of PIMS Dr. Shafiq Sarwar, who has served as MS of Holy Family Hospital for quite some time negotiated with the protesters two days ago and assured an end to the stalemate. Talking to this scribe, Dr. Humayun said, “The government is looking into how employees who do not opt for MTI can be adjusted. Such employees will retain their civil servant status and will work under a new clause which is currently being finalised.”

Dr. Humayun said, if PIMS employees want to change, they will have to get out of their comfort zones and start working. “MTI is an excellent system for hard-working professionals who want to excel.” When asked why PIMS employees should accept the Ordinance in its present form, Dr. Humayun said, firstly because under MTI, whoever qualifies for promotion automatically gets elevated, regardless of the availability of vacancies. Secondly, MTI brings higher salary packages, alongside other privileges including pension. Thirdly, MTI promises efficient governance. The BoG will take and implement decisions within a matter of days, rather than weeks or months. There will be no delays and red tape. He said, the BoG has replaced the Ministry of Health so the success or failure of PIMS will be seen as the success or failure of the BoG.

Dr. Humayun pointed out that a majority of the doctors at PIMS leave the hospital by 1 p.m. so that they can do private practice. “The BoG will create state-of-the-art infrastructure for private practice at PIMS. Instead of private hospitals minting money at the behest of our doctors, PIMS will maximally benefit from their expertise. Within three years, instead of losing Rs1 billion per year as is presently the case, PIMS will start making Rs1-2 billion from private practice,” he predicted.

Dr. Humayun assured massive improvements in PIMS within the next six months—first in terms of services and then in other areas. “The hospital will be run by the administration (two Deans, Hospital Director, Medical Director, Nursing Director, and Finance Director). These personnel will be hired on merit, will be the best out of the best, and may not necessarily be from PIMS. As BoG Chairman, I will incorporate the government’s vision without interfering in the hospital’s day-to-day affairs,” he stated.

Why the MTI rules have not been made so far, Dr. Humayun was asked. He responded, “We are waiting for the government to share the MTI rules. Since these rules will be framed along the lines of the Ordinance, we have already worked on regulations so that the moment we have the rules, we will be up and running.”

Asked why PIMS employees would want to leave their permanent jobs and work on contract under MTI, Dr. Humayun said, “There are no permanent jobs anywhere in the world. A permanent job is a free license not to work and still enjoy all benefits. Contractual jobs are tied to performance. The best feature of MTI is that there is no age of retirement; you can work till 75-80 years as long as you are fit. If you are competent, nobody will fire you.”

Referring to the February 22 court hearing on the MTI case, Dr. Humayun said, he will go to court himself to represent the BoG. Commenting on the court’s ban on new appointments, he said, “We have made all appointments for three months. During this time, the case will either be thrown out by the court or even if they cancel it or term the Ordinance as not good enough, the Act will already have come.”

Dr. Humayun added that the BoG does not have any member from the public sector because the idea is to engage successful entrepreneurs from different fields of expertise and entrust them with the management of the public sector so that these institutions also perform as efficiently as corporate entities.”

Dr. Humayun dismissed the belief that PIMS has been privatized. “If the employees want to believe so, I cannot help them. Poor patients, entitled patients, and empaneled patients will be treated like before; however, rich patients who enjoyed free treatment out of the taxpayers’ money will now be charged,” he clarified.